Wall Street 2 Casting Gets Greedy, Adds Langella

Frank Langella goes from playing Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon to hangin' out with skeevy corporate crooks of Oliver Stone's sequel to Wall Street. The follow-up, subtitled Money Never Sleeps, is gaining steam after inking Michael Douglas to return as iconic 80's villain Gordon Gecko. Shia Labeouf is also on tap to play a young upstart broker(because everyone of these films needs one!), and reportedly Josh Brolin is close to signing on for a role as well. Langella, who most recently was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Tricky Dick Nixon in Frost/Nixon last year, will be playing a veteran broker who serves as something of a mentor for Labeouf character.

I'm still not enthused by this sequel. Wall Street was the perfect film for it's time, but I'm not sure the climate is quite right for this. Not to say that there aren't still a bunch of greedy wall street shit heels out there, but does that necessarily mean people want to pay money to watch them on the big screen? No. Right now, movies that reflect in some small way on our current difficulties are failing left and right. I'm not just talking about the war films which have universally underwhelmed at the box office. I'm talking about movies like The International, which featured two of the most bankable stars in Hollywood but it's plot about evil bankers subsidizing terror compelled audiences to stay home and read a book. Or even a film like Public Enemies, which is set during The Great Depression, failed to click with audiences.

While I think adding someone like Langella is always a positive, I'm left a little cold by the prospect of this movie.